


I Gave You My Heart

by prxntiss



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fluff, Getting Together, Mistletoe, alina told me it's not too early for christmas, so blame her if it is, there is some jeid and morcia if you squint, they're pretty cute in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:14:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27913624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prxntiss/pseuds/prxntiss
Summary: Emily gave him her heart a long time ago but she never expected his in return
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner & David Rossi, Aaron Hotchner & Emily Prentiss, Aaron Hotchner/Emily Prentiss, Derek Morgan & Emily Prentiss, Emily Prentiss & David Rossi, Emily Prentiss & Spencer Reid, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau & Emily Prentiss, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau & Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia & Derek Morgan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	I Gave You My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all can blame Alina for this catastrophic mess :)

Penelope sighed, adjusting the wreath on the door to the BAU. Strauss might have a fit if she saw that they’d decorated the entire bullpen, but it had been a long year and they deserved some festivity. 

Emily was over by her desk, wrapping tinsel around the divide between her Reid’s desk. Reid was watching her with confusion. “What is the point of this?”

Emily rolled her eyes. “Come on, genius, sprout off some statistics about how Christmas decorations increase people's happiness.”

“But-”

“Don’t worry, Spence, it just looks pretty.” JJ called over, putting more tinsel around the banisters outside Rossi and Hotch’s offices. She had a bit of red tinsel in her hair and it brought out the pink in her cheeks from the cold.

The tech girl hurried over, her vibrant christmas dress adding to the festivity. “Come on, can’t you feel the joy in the air?”

“Not really.”

Penelope clicked her tongue. “Well then, here we go.” she grabbed the spare tinsel off Emily and wrapped it around the youngest agent. His confusion was hilarious and Emily and JJ laughed loudly. He pouted at them.

“Pretty boy, gold and sparkly is a good colour on you.” Morgan piped up, spinning around in his chair to face them, his smirk prominent.

“Shut up, Morgan.” Reid whined.

“Mama, you just saved christmas.” 

“Oh, dark chocolate thunder, believe me, I’m aware.” 

“Aw, keep it on,” JJ said as she walked over, the younger agent trying to free himself from his makeshift bindings. She ruffled his long hair and he pulled a face when it got in his eyes.

“Have you ladies decorated Rossi’s yet?” Morgan asked.

“We’re going over early to do it.”

“Mistletoe?” Penelope suggested.

“No!” JJ and Emily cried out at the same time.

“So boring.” Penelope rolled her eyes.

“Sensible, not boring.” JJ corrected with a wink.

Emily nodded in agreement. “It’s just as bad as playing spin the bottle in highschool.”

“Why do I get the feeling you played that one a lot?” 

“Oh!” JJ suddenly exclaimed, scaring Reid slightly. “I have presents.”

“Same.” Emily picked up her bag and dug through it.

“You couldn’t just bring them to the party?”

Emily and JJ looked at each other. “That would have made sense.”

“Whatever, they’re early.” Emily shrugged, handing Penelope, Morgan and Reid a carefully wrapped present each.

“Thanks, Princess.” Morgan said, standing up and kissing her cheek. Penelope gave her a massive hug and Reid a high five, much to her amusement.

JJ re-emerged from her office and handed out her presents. Emily gave one to JJ and then put the one JJ gave her in return straight in her bag, digging around at the bottom. “Damn, I left Rossi’s at home. I’ll give it to him tonight.”

“Oh crap, I said, I’d go to my mums to give her my slow cooker five minutes ago.” JJ looked flustered.

“You’re a little rushed today, Jayje.” Emily teased.

“I’m going to give Rossi his quickly, Em, take this one to Hotch when you give him yours, I’ll see you guys at the party later.” JJ grabbed her bag, threw a parcel at Emily and dashed out of the room.

“Emily, you got me mismatched socks!” Reid exclaimed, grinning up at her.

Emily grinned back as she pulled the last present out of her bag and carried it with JJ’s up the stairs at the front of the bullpen. It was a small present. But she’d debated giving it to him for a long time. So now she was just going to go for it.

"Hotch?" He looked up at the knock on the door. Strauss had sent over a whole bunch of new paperwork and he was trying to finish it by that night. By the looks of things, he wasn't quite going to make that deadline.

"Hi Emily, what's up?"

"JJ had to run out quickly, so I'm just dropping off her present to you." Emily slowly walked in and then put it on his desk.

“Oh, that’s really nice of her.” Hotch smiled at her briefly, picking it up and inspecting it.

“And, uh, I got you one as well. I hope you like it, I just saw it and thought of you and it’s sort of a joke, I don’t expect you to actually use it but-” Hotch cut her off with a raised eyebrow. “Yeah. Merry Christmas.” she finished her ramble, her cheeks slightly pink.

“I don’t have yours here.” Hotch started as she handed him the gift.

Emily pasted on a smile. “It’s okay, you don’t need to give me one, I just wanted to-”

“Emily.” Hotch said again, a smile playing on his lips now. She tried not to get distracted by it. “Thank you.”

She held his eye contact before breaking it off, her blush deepening. “Merry Christmas.” she said again, turning around and walking out as quickly as she could without breaking into a run. Hotch watched her disappear, slightly confused but touched by the gesture. The truth was, he hadn’t really had time to go shopping for the team's presents yet. But the generosity of JJ and Emily made his mind up.

“Wow, Aaron, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her that nervous around you. You surprise me, I really didn’t peg her as the kind of girl who would fall in love with you.” Rossi walked in with a smirk, sitting down on the chair in front of Hotch’s desk.

“What? No. Go away.” Hotch glared at his friend but they both noticed his eyes flicking away to glance down at the bullpen where Emily sat.

Rossi chuckled under his breath. “Oh boy, you are way too deep.”

“Stop it, I have work to do.”

“You have other things to do.” Rossi grinned.

Hotch raised an eyebrow at him. “Like what, asking Emily out? Kissing Emily?” he sarcastically asked.

Rossi pulled a face. “That’s not what I was going to say but yes, you should definitely do both of those things. No, I was going to say that you need to go and buy her, and everyone else, Christmas presents.”

Hotch sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

“So what are you waiting for?” Rossi exclaimed. “Go now!”

“But I have to finish this paperwork-”

“No you don’t, it’s past five, you can go now and still be at my place on time.” 

Hotch paused. “But what do I even get her?”

Rossi shrugged back. “Oh, I don’t know. Look around for something that reminds you of her. That’s what she probably did for you. What did she give you?”

“I’m not sure.” Hotch picked up the carefully wrapped present. He picked at the wrapping paper, carefully pulling it off. A silk tie fell out, the red bold but simple. He picked it up and ran it between his fingers.

Rossi wolf-whistled. “She’s got taste. Although I wouldn’t expect anything less from her.”

Hotch didn’t say anything, but kept looking at it. She’d somehow managed to pick something that was perfectly in his taste, from the colour, to the fabric, to the design.

“Hotch?” Rossi raised an eyebrow at him, clicking his fingers in front of his friends eyes to break him out of his trance.

“What? Oh, I’m going shopping, I’ll see you later.” Hotch carefully folded up the tie and put it in his bag before adding JJ’s present as well and heading for the door. Rossi slowly walked out into the hallway, just in time to see Hotch walk out of the bullpen and press the button for the elevator. Morgan made eye contact with Rossi for a second and mouthed  _ ‘where is he going?’,  _ gesturing to Hotch. Rossi just shrugged with a smile, walking back into his office.

* * *

“Hey Babygirl, is Rossi distracted?” Morgan whispered to the blonde.

She peered over at him, confusion clear in her eyes. “Yes? My sweet chocolate man, what are you up to?”

“I think we should spike the punch.” Morgan walked over to the drink in question. JJ had made some sort of comment about how everyone would make sure they stayed mostly sober for this gathering so that they could drive home as cabs were meant to be more expensive than usual on that particular night. Emily and Hotch had agreed and Reid never normally drank that much so Rossi had just accepted this one loss. It left them with a very high school bowl of punch.

“Spike it? But-” Garcia was clearly confused.

“No one will notice, don’t worry. It will lighten the mood a bit. Get through Hotch and Emily’s awkwardness that’s bound to come back.” he raised his eyebrows at her.

“I guess that we can make an exception if it’s to help my two favourite brunette profilers get together.”

“Okay, mama, you go make sure Rossi stays distracted, I’ll do the spiking.” Penelope nodded. She wore the same red, Christmassy dress that she had been wearing earlier, but now she wore reindeer ears as well. She’d forced Morgan into a Santa hat that he was wearing with minimal complaining. He’d realised pretty quickly that it wasn’t really a battle worth fighting, she’d make sure that by the end of the night, everyone was wearing some sort of Christmas themed item.

The doorbell rang and she jumped, her grin multiplying. “I’ll get it!”

Morgan kissed her cheek quickly before slyly opening one of Rossi's cabinets and pulling out a bottle of scotch, generously adding some of the liquid.

Penelope squealed with excitement when she opened the door, wrapping her arms around the three that stood there. “It’s the pretty girl and boy and my multilingual marvel!”

JJ laughed, hugging her friend back. “Hey babygirl.” she teased, mimicking Morgan’s voice. She also wore the same outfit as earlier, but she’d put on some more makeup.

“Put some bass in your voice, Jareau.” Morgan shouted in from the other room. JJ smirked.

Reid grinned. “Hi Garcia.” 

“Hello sweetness.” the tech girl refrained from kissing his cheek, knowing that he would get uncomfortable and instead directed that particular urge at Emily who reciprocated. 

“Merry Christmas.” Emily laughed, JJ’s tinsel in her hair and her red and white dress pretty.

“Come in, come in. Rossi is cooking his world famous carbonara and Morgan is, uh, serving us all up some punch.”

“Hotch isn’t here yet?” Emily asked, her tone light but she clearly cared about the answer.

“Not quite, he said he had some things to wrap up but he’d be here soon.” Rossi said, coming out of the kitchen and joining them in the back room.

“You see, I told you guys that we wouldn’t be the last here.” JJ said with a smirk. At the look of confusion on the others faces, she elaborated. “Spence said he’d pick me up but then Emily’s car broke down so we swung by hers to pick her up.”

“I swear my car is allergic to cold weather.” Emily rolled her eyes, almost choking as the doorbell startled her. “Geez Dave, that thing is loud.”

“I can’t figure out how to turn it down.” the older man apologised.

“There’s probably not got an option to do that, instead it’s probably louder because the sound waves are bouncing off the walls.” Reid helpfully supplied.

Rossi nodded as he walked towards the front doors. “I’ll bear that in mind. Hi Aaron.”

“Hi Dave. Sorry I’m late. It took a bit longer than I expected it to.”

“Understandably.” Rossi turned back to the others. “He left his Christmas shopping a bit too late.”

The others laughed and Hotch made eye contact with Emily briefly. She blushed, drinking some of the punch Morgan had given her to hide it. He was wearing the tie she’d given her. It had been the first thing that she’d noticed when he walked in. It suited him.

Rossi clearly noticed as well. “Nice tie Hotch, is that a present?”

“Yeah.”

“Who from?” JJ asked.

“A good friend.” Hotch vaguely answered, keen to not make eye contact with that particualr friend.

“Statistically speaking, men who call someone their  _ good friend  _ usually are interested in that particular person romantically, or sexually-”

Reid was cut off by Emily once again almost choking on her drink. She quickly swallowed, flushed. “Sorry, it’s just, uh, you never cease to amaze me, Doctor Reid.”

Rossi smirked. “I’m sure he does.”

* * *

The night carried on cheerfully, Morgan’s punch doing just the trick. They were all in Rossi’s living room, stomachs full, smile’s wide. Reid had stopped drinking the punch a while ago and was sitting on lounge with a glass of water next to JJ, who was giggling loudly with Garcia. Emily noticed that he took her glass of punch from her and gave her his water which she gratefully drank. She didn’t put the pieces together though, too busy listening to Rossi as he held everyone’s attention from his armchair. 

He was obviously the most drunk and acting it too. That was the thing about David Rossi. He never got drunk, no matter how much he had. Every so often he would pass this invisible tipping point and then their was no going back, everything he knew about you would be exposed.

He was clearly past that point.

“The things that I could tell you about Aaron Hotchner could fill a book.” Rossi said. “Several books, in fact. I should write my next series on him.”

“Please don’t, Dave.” Hotch called over.

“No guarantees, Aaron. I’ve known our boss since he was a wee little thing, just out of the academy. He told me about everything, including this girl called Emily who he met while he was working the security detail for her mother, the mayors wife. Or maybe her mother was the queen of England. The details are a bit blurry.”

“Ambassadors daughter, that was me, you idiot.” Emily supplied, curled up against the armrest.

“If you say so, Agent Prentiss. I could also tell you guys about the adventures of 15-year-old Emily in Rome.” Emily’s cheeks had gone slightly pale, unnoticeable to everyone except Hotch, who had spent enough time watching her to realise. He frowned.

“Maybe next time.” Hotch added. Emily shot him a grateful smile, relief clear.

“Then I guess I’ll talk about Hotch. He was quite the catch when he was younger. I could tell you about every date, every girl who caught his eye, every sexual enounter-”

“Alright, I think that’s enough.” Emily quickly said, standing up. “You, David Rossi, need to come with me for a little while.”

“Aw, no, come on, Em!” Penelope whined.

Morgan pouted. “Emily…”

“What, you meant you don’t want to hear about Hotch’s sex life?” JJ bluntly stated. Reid wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her down to sit on the lounge beside him. She got drunk easily.

“As fun as that sounds, I think that Hotch’s secrets shouldn’t all be spilled by Rossi when he’s in this frame of mind.” Emily grinned at their disappointed looks, ignoring Hotch as she got Rossi to stand up. 

Garcia leaned across to whisper to Morgan. “How is Rossi drunk, the only thing he’s had all night is the punch!”

“Exactly, Mama.”

Penelope’s expression was horrified. “I thought you meant spiking it with salt or something, not Rossi’s scotch!”

“What?” Morgan’s look of confusion was hilarious. “Who have you ever met that spiked something with salt?”

“I don’t know!” she babbled. “I thought it would be a joke. Now we’re going to get in trouble tomorrow!”

“Relax, babygirl. No one will be angry, look at how much fun everyone’s having. Hotch is even smiling.”

Penelope bit her lip. “I guess… but like… ugh, you are in big trouble with me!” she glared at him before leaning against him. He rolled his eyes affectionately, she’d never stay mad at him, and watched Emily guide Rossi out of the room.

“Hotch is in love with you.” Rossi said as they left the room. 

Emily pushed him into his bedroom. “I’m locking you in this room until you sober up.”

“But he loves you.”

“But you’re drunk. Here.” she disappeared for a minute, taking Reid’s water off JJ before coming back and handing it to him. “Drink it. I’ll come back and check on you later.”

“Thanks mum.” he said sarcastically as she closed the door.

The party carried on loudly. After a while, Rossi was released back out again but not before he promised not to spill any secrets. The fairy lights sparkled off the tinsel creating a festive glow, and Penelope’s home baked Christmas treats were eagerly consumed. Everyone was happy, happy with their family. 

At some point they decided to dance and everyone joined in. Emily was doing some sort of waltz with Reid, the young agent telling her facts about places and things that only Emily would understand. Garcia was with Rossi and Hotch, loudly attempting some sort of folkdance while JJ and Morgan danced more quietly. Reid spun Emily around and she giggled, being caught by Rossi while Reid inherited Penelope. JJ moved onto Hotch while Morgan snatched back Penelope, causing a lonely Reid to be joined by a laughing JJ. 

JJ draped more tinsle around Emily and then attempted some sort of dance with Penelope that only tipsy blondes could achieve. Morgan started laughing with Rossi and Hotch, the latter sporting a massive and rare smile.

Emily eventually had to withdraw from the festivities. She was thirsty and her cheeks ached from smiling. Rossi’s kitchen was a safe haven and she wandered in there, grabbing a glass and filling it with water, sipping it slowly.

“Are you alright?”

Emily jumped and spun around. “Gosh, Hotch, you scared me.”

He looked a bit sheepish. “Sorry.”

She nodded. “Yeah I’m fine. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.”

“Thanks, that’s nice of you.”

The kitchen was quiet for a moment, JJ’s laugh temporarily penetrating the silence. She stopped leaning against the sink, standing up and looking at him. She suddenly realised that they were a lot closer than she’d initially thought. She stared down at the tie.

“I like it. The tie, I mean. It’s nice and very… me.” Hotch said.

Emily smiled, mentally thanking him for providing her with something to say. “That’s a relief, I wasn’t sure if you’d like it.”

“I love it. Thanks.” Emily blushed.

“No problem.” her eye caught on something and she quickly looked away, trying to slow the pace that her heart rate had just sped up to. It hadn’t been… no. It wasn’t… JJ hadn’t-

“What’s wrong?” Hotch looked at her in concern.

“Nothing. I’m 100% fine.” But her voice sounded too perky for even herself.

Her eyes strayed back to that… object, and Hotch noticed, turning to look above where she was looking. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” Emily said quietly.

The mistletoe seemed a lot more of a problem now then it had been when Emily had teasingly thrown it at Morgan earlier that day.

“Well, uh-”

Emily cleared her throat, looked down and then quickly kissed his cheek. “Problem solved.” she whispered as she pulled back.

He held her eye contact, his expression unreadable. “I got you a present.” he said after a moment.

Emily shook her head. “You didn’t have to.”

Hotch shook his head. “I know. But I wanted to.”

“Okay.” she smiled softly. 

He reached behind him and pulled out a small jewellery box from his back pocket. He fiddled with it in his hands for a moment before looking back up at her. “I wanted to find something that meant something, that reminded me of you so that it was significant. That’s what Rossi said to do.” he handed it to her. “And I found this.”

Emily looked up at him for a second before looking back down at the box. She rubbed her thumb across the leather on top before opening it. Inside was a gold bracelet with a slim chain. It had a pendant on it with an outline of the world. It was simple, delicate. It was perfect.

“Wow, Hotch… I love it. It’s beautiful.” She was lost for words.

“It reminded me of you. Because you have been pretty much everywhere in the world and speak every language-” he cut off as he looked at her.

Her eyes were slightly moist as she pulled out the bracelet and clipped it around her wrist. She was inspecting it with a happy smiled on her face when Rossi shouted something gleefully in the distant background. It made Emily look up to smile at him and Hotch couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Emily?”

“Yeah?”

And then his lips were on hers. It was slow, soft, and then he pulled back a tiny bit. “Merry Christmas.”

Emily smiled shyly. “Merry Christmas.” she whispered back.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry christmas <3 please comment


End file.
